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Water vapor can also be indirect evidence supporting the presence of extraterrestrial liquid water in the case of some planetary mass objects. Water vapor, which reacts to temperature changes, is referred to as a 'feedback', because it amplifies the effect of forces that initially cause the warming. Therefore, it is a greenhouse gas. [2]
Water vapor concentration for this gas mixture is 0.4%. Water vapor is a greenhouse gas in the Earth's atmosphere, responsible for 70% of the known absorption of incoming sunlight, particularly in the infrared region, and about 60% of the atmospheric absorption of thermal radiation by the Earth known as the greenhouse effect. [25]
Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas overall, being responsible for 41–67% of the greenhouse effect, [31] [32] but its global concentrations are not directly affected by human activity. While local water vapor concentrations can be affected by developments such as irrigation , it has little impact on the global scale due to its ...
Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. [2] Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depends on the temperature and pressure of the system of interest. The same amount of water vapor results in higher relative humidity in cool air than warm air.
Longwave absorption coefficients of water vapor and carbon dioxide. For wavelengths near 15 microns (15 μm in top scale), where Earth's surface emits strongly, CO 2 is a much stronger absorber than water vapor. Greenhouse gases absorb and emit longwave radiation within specific ranges of wavelengths (organized as spectral lines or bands). [15]
The amount of water that can exist as vapor in a given volume increases with the temperature. When the amount of water vapor is in equilibrium above a flat surface of water the level of vapor pressure is called saturation and the relative humidity is 100%. At this equilibrium there are equal numbers of molecules evaporating from the water as ...
where P 1, P 2 are the vapor pressures at temperatures T 1, T 2 respectively, ΔH vap is the enthalpy of vaporization, and R is the universal gas constant. The rate of evaporation in an open system is related to the vapor pressure found in a closed system. If a liquid is heated, when the vapor pressure reaches the ambient pressure the liquid ...
The water cycle is essential to life on Earth and plays a large role in the global climate system and ocean circulation. The warming of our planet is expected to be accompanied by changes in the water cycle for various reasons. [3] For example, a warmer atmosphere can contain more water vapor which has effects on evaporation and rainfall.